Sunday, July 29, 2012

Ding-Dong this genre is dead

by: Joelle Charbonneau

Cozies are dead.

Chick-lit is dead.

Romantic suspense is dead.

Science fiction is dead.

Dystopian is dead.

Private eye novels are dead.

I just finished attending a conference this weekend.There were workshops, pitch appointments,
award ceremonies, publisher parties and lots of chat amongst friends.There was also lots and lots of discussion
about the state of publishing.

It never fails that at every writers conference I attend, I
hear that a certain genre that was once incredibly popular is now completely
tanked.Dead.No longer will anyone buy that genre.If you write in that genre you’d better
switch genres or choose to go a non-traditional publishing route.I watch writers’ eyes widen in fear as they
realize the months or years they’ve spent working on their vampire novel or
their Georgian-set Historical has all been wasted.They shrug as if they don’t care, but I see
their muscles clench and the sadness lurking behind the smile.

OY!

Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but no genre is ever
dead.No time has ever been wasted.Whether you are pursuing traditional or
self-publishing, readers are out there waiting to discover new stories in the
genre that has been declared null and void.

Industry professionals who speak confidently about a genre
being dead don’t really mean that it is not a viable option any longer.(Although that is typically what many, maybe
even most authors take away from the conversation.What they are saying is that a genre which in
recent years had seen a huge upswing in demand has now contracted a bit.It’s not that people aren’t buying books in
that genre, but they bought so many books in that genre over a set number of
years that the market has become oversaturated.

And yet…while vampires “died” five years ago for publishers,
there are still books being published with vampire characters.So, clearly, the reports of their demise have
been greatly exaggerated.Right?

When a genre “dies” it doesn’t mean that no one is buying
that genre anymore.It doesn’t mean that
your book can’t sell or that readers don’t want to read you.It just means that what once was an easy sell
two years ago becomes a tougher sell now.But it CAN sell.

Take my young adult novel, THE TESTING.Dystopian died about a year ago.Not because readers weren’t reading it or because
there weren’t books still coming out in that genre.It was because it was the genre every
publisher bought dozens and dozens of projects in a short period of time.Both my agent and I knew the book would be
harder to sell now that it would have been had I thought to write the sucker
two years before.

Even knowing it would be a tough sell, I wrote the
book.I wanted to write the book.My agent loved the book and pitched it.Several publishers turned us down without
even reading the book because the dystopian YA genre was dead.But most editors read the book.I’m guessing many of them did so with an
eye-roll because….drum roll please….the genre was dead.But they read it.A lot of them really liked it.Several loved it.The book and the rest of the trilogy sold.

Just because a genre is dead doesn’t mean you should abandon
it.It just means it might be harder to
sell to a traditional publisher or to attract notice if you self-publish the
book.But good stories are always being
looked for.And no genres ever really
die.

So, if you are going to a conference and you hear your genre
is dead…don’t shake your head with disappointment.Take it as a challenge.Make your writing and your story so strong
and people have to take notice.And
remember…the genres that fade today are the ones that rise from the ashes and
take the world by storm in the future.No genre ever stays dead for long.